Concord, MA, October 30, 1998 – With the demand for web-based, open architecture publishing solutions increasing more than ever, North Atlantic today announced the release of NPS version 1.5. NPS is North Atlantic’s web-based workflow management system for publishers.

NPS Version 1.5 enhances editorial productivity with the addition of:

• Multi-Page XPress Previews – Thumbnails are now available for all pages of multi-page QuarkXPress documents.
• Book Position XPress Previews – Users can select a set of multi-page XPress documents, then view thumbnails, paginated in Quark page number sequence, via the web browser. This allows you to view an entire book even though it might be broken down into several XPress documents. This is all provided in the web browser interface without the need to check out files or start XPress.
• Web-Based Content Review – Large size previews are now available for online content review of QuarkXPress documents. Preview sizes are user-definable, on the fly, and can be specified as any percentage of actual size, including sizes over 100%. Again this is all provided in the web browser interface without the need to check out files or start XPress.
• Browser Previews for Art and Text Files – In addition to standard thumbnails, larger previews are now available for any art and text file in a browser-compatible format. This includes TIFF, JPEG, and EPS formats, among others.
• Job-Based Check-Out/Check-In – In addition to standard file-based check-out/check-in, NPS now includes a job-based check-out/check-in function that allows you to check out a folder and its contents (both files and sub-folders) in one step. Folder hierarchy is maintained on your local desktop while the job is checked out.

NPS Version 1.5 also provides new tools for dynamic system administration, including:

• Job Access Permissions/Restrictions – Access permissions are now available for top-level segments of the job hierarchy. This allows you to set up a system where users or user classes are defined as having access only to certain job hierarchies. This is particularly useful in settings where multiple publications are being produced using the same system, but individual users are working only on particular publications. Publication/job segments to which a user does not have access are not visible to the user.
• Storage Management Interface – Management of physical storage locations is made easier with a new interface that allows you to move physical storage locations for on-line elements while retaining NPS accessibility to the relocated files. The interface lists the files stored on each volume and identifies the NPS jobs to which they belong. It also shows used and available disk space for each volume, allowing you to monitor usage and anticipate storage needs.
• Option to Include Database Info with Archived Elements and Jobs – Job and file archiving now provides the ability to archive NPS database info along with files. Later, if you want to restore elements to on-line NPS availability, you can restore the NPS database info along with the files.
• Archive History Log with Dynamic Links – Each time you archive NPS files, an entry is placed in the NPS Archive History log. If you click on the entry for a particular archive occurrence, you can view a list of all the elements included in that archive. The entries are written in the log as dynamic links so that you can select items to retrieve from archive locations, click restore, and have them automatically loaded back into NPS.
• Archive Search Engine – NPS enables you to search archive logs for particular files, jobs, or sub-jobs. This allows you to locate files for retrieval without needing to scroll though archive directories.

NPS, whose initial release was announced at the Seybold show in March ’98, has enjoyed increasing popularity this year among publishers looking for workflow management solutions based on industry-accepted standard packages and true open architecture technologies, such as web browsers, SQL databases, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Word.

Through its separately-purchasable modules, NAPS Publishing System provides:

• Editorial workflow for file management, including check-out and check-in, and file routing by production stage, function or user-to-user.
• Scheduling for editorial, layout, and other production stages, allowing automatic tracking of what’s due and what’s behind schedule.
• Enhanced composition capabilities with Word and XPress. On the Word side: line counts, copyfit info, and layout preview. On the QuarkXPress side: automatic text revision from Word documents, batch import of text and art, and batch export of revised text back to Word documents.
• Client-server architecture with NT or UNIX servers and Explorer or Netscape browser clients.
• Supports TCP/IP locally and for remote users file transfers occur via HTTP.

North Atlantic Publishing Systems develops, markets, and supports software products for pre-press publishing. Its philosophy is to provide custom publishing systems built from standard components. NAPS Publishing System and HNJ Engine are North Atlantic's latest products. They were developed in response to input from thousands of existing users of North Atlantic products, including Workflow Administrator, CopyBridge and CopyFlow. For more information about North Atlantic Publishing Systems and its products, visit the company's web site at http://www.napsys.com.

Alice Fackre

North Atlantic Publishing Systems, Inc.

(978) 371-8989

alice@napsys.com

© North Atlantic Publishing Systems, Inc. 1997. All rights reserved.